Across the Ages
by Isabella Raven
Summary: Updated. Elrond and Celebrian share a few moments together before he must leave on a journey back to a world that has changed greatly from the one he left at the end of the Third Age.
1. I Walk Alone

Disclaimer: Hmm. No one in this story belongs to me. The lyrics belong to their respective artists. All recognizable characters belong to Tolkien, etc. Settings are mostly places in the real world, or in Middle Earth, so are generic, public, or Tolkien once more. That is all.

Author's Note: Each of these stories is a one-shot, and meant to be able to stand on its own for the most part. They read best in the order I have them, but that doesn't mean you have to. Feel free to skip around and read them in a different order if you wish. But either way, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**I Walk Alone**

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone  
-Green Day, _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

Haldir walked between the massive trunks of the trees of Lothlorien, his feet crunching on fallen leaves, the wind playing with strands of his blond hair. The others had long since left for the Undying Lands, but he had volunteered to remain behind. A guardian for relics that could bring the world to its knees if they fell into the wrong hands. Alone.

He came to the river, standing on its banks, and looking down towards the distant falls, unseen from where he stood. And the more distant ocean he would never see. It was strangely silent to the Marchwarden, accustomed to the quiet presence of other elves. "A last duty to the Lady of the Golden Wood, Haldir?"

The Lorian elf turned, having missed the silent tread of the other elf. "Legolas."

There was a rueful smile, and Legolas shrugged, moving closer to Haldir, and perching on the river bank. "You're not the only one who is staying. You're not alone."

"No matter who is around me, Legolas, I am always alone." Haldir shrugged, returning his gaze to the river. "There is no one who can share the burden." He knew the younger elf would object, say he could, that the others staying for the sake of the Guardianship could, and he turned to walk away from the river. No matter what the prince thought, Haldir knew no one else would stay forever with the relics.

_You will find something to pull you away, and others will do the same. No matter what happens, I must remain with these things, and guard them, keep them from the reach of those who would misuse them. It goes beyond my promise to Lady Galadriel, Legolas. Beyond the sense of duty that distanced me from even my own brothers. There is no one else._

Lost in his own thoughts, Haldir made his way back to the city, to the abandoned talon of Galadriel and Celeborn, where he'd begun to construct a sturdier building to protect against the winter that would come soon to the Golden Wood. The first winter it had seen since Galadriel had become its Lady.

He stood on the steps that led up into the sleeping area, looking out over the abandoned elven city. In time it would fade and decay, leaving nothing but the empty forest and him to remember what had once been there. To remember the days when the city was full of elves and life and light. Before the war of the ring, before the Age of Man. He thought he caught a whisper on the wind that he wouldn't always be alone, but it was faint, even to his ears, and he soon forgot about it.

Legolas joined him in building the house, and soon Elrond's twin sons did the same, the other three elves trying to draw Haldir into their comraderie. He ignored them, pushing them away, and leaving him alone in his heart, the familiar cloak of arrogance hiding the deepening sense of lonliness and alienation as the world changed around them.

FIN


	2. The Life You Left Behind

**The Life You Left Behind**

This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that  
Time cannot erase  
- Evanescence, _My Immortal_

Legolas sat beside the river, not seeing the scene before him through the thoughts that occupied his mind. He was dimly aware that the twins were trying to talk Haldir out of making them patrol the borders of the forest, when no one would set foot inside the borders of what had been Lothlorien. Dimly aware that Arwen had arrived from Minas Tirith, and lay in one of the rooms of the house they'd built around Galadriel and Celeborn's talon. But none of it seemed important, or real, at the moment.

All that was real was the pain lancing through his heart, that he struggled to ignore, or contain. He could not give into the grief of loosing his dear friend. There was still too much to do. And there were other friends. Gimli. Elledan and Elrohir. Haldir, if he'd ever let the arrogance he cloaked himself in drop for a moment. He couldn't leave them to pick up the pieces.

_But they don't know. The secrets kept hidden at Minas Tirith, at Edoras, at Helm's Deep. The secrets those halls and towers will never release, not even to the passage of centuries. They can never know the secrets I promised to keep. For Arwen, for Eomer. For Aragorn, so many secrets kept._

He bowed his head, fighting the pain that threatened to overwhelm him. Shoving himself to his feet, he stalked away from the arguement that was steadily gaining volume, and into the house, where perhaps he'd find a moment of peace. Climbing the stairs, he paused at the one just at the top, his hand almost reaching to open it.

Legolas clenched his hand, turning on his heel to continue down the hall, closing the door to his own room with deceptive gentleness, before barring it. He wanted no one to disturb him; he wanted only to be left alone with his grief for the moment. _I want only to forget. For a time, to forget._

FIN


	3. Lady Mercy

**Lady mercy**

Convinced our voices can't be heard  
We just want to scream it louder and louder and louder  
What the hell we fighting for?  
-Queen, _Hammer to Fall_

Delanie Grey stomped out of the house, a frustrated scream hanging on the air behind her as the other four stared at the slammed door. Wrapping her shawl around her, she stalked down the street of the small Colorado town she lived in, fuming. _I can't believe Rhianne told them! Damnit, what is their problem with my reading about Middle Earth? I mean, the worst thing I've come across is that diary. You'd never see something like that in any of the histories, after all._

She kicked at a stone, nudging her toe under it and tossing it into the air. Rolling it in her fingers a moment, she threw it as hard as she could towards the forest that bordered the town, glaring at the stone as it arced. A yelp escaped her as it shattered, and she ducked, avoiding shrapnel.

_Ada would be pissed if he saw me doing that. Maybe more upset than he was when he found out I read Arwen's diary. Though why, I don't know. I've had boyfriends, I know what sex is. Maybe he's still clinging to seriously outdated morals and all, but I don't see the problem with her having a lover on the side, when she knew Aragorn had a boyfriend. It doesn't look like it made a difference in their public image, anyway._

She leaned against a tree at the edge of the forest a moment, before slipping into the twilight gloom of the late afternoon beneath the canopy. "What are they waiting for? What are they trying to do?" she whispered to herself, her footfalls silent on the leaf litter.

"It's a long story, Delanie," she heard behind her, and spun, glaring at Elrond. She hadn't heard him come up, and she resented his ability to sneak up on her.

"And? I have nothing better to do, since ada won't let me get a life of my own." She leaned against a tree, her arms crossed over her chest. "Enlighten me."

Elrond raised an eyebrow. "You might want to return to the house to hear it all. Unless you care to brave the coming storm out here?" A rumble of thunder in the distance underscored his words, and Delanie sighed.

"I don't know how you do that, Uncle Elrond," she muttered as she pushed away from the tree, walking with the elf back towards the house. "This story had better be good."

She thought she heard a sigh from Elrond. "If interesting is good."

"Always, Uncle Elrond."

FIN


	4. Beyond the Ice and the Fire

**Beyond the Ice and the Fire**

Breathe life into this feeble heart  
Lift this mortal veil of fear  
Take these crumbled hopes  
Etched with tears

We'll rise above these earthly cares  
- Loreena McKennitt, _Dante's Prayer_

Eowyn leaned against the balcony of her rooms, staring up the river towards the dark smudge on the horizon that was Lothlorien. She could hear Faramir behind her, rolling over in his sleep, and turned her head to look at him. His once brown hair had gone completely grey, and there were hollows in his cheeks that hadn't been there before. Fear gripped her heart for a moment, and she closed her eyes against the tears that gathered there.

She made her way to the fireplace, her sight blurred by tears, and age, to lift down the ornate wooden box that rested there, opening it to look over the treasures gathered inside. A brief letter from her brother, telling her of the lady he loved, and asking her to watch over her when she returned to Gondor. A stone worn smooth by the river that she'd found when walking with Arwen, and their children along the banks.

Her fingers brushed over the one she loved best, the texture silky beneath her fingertips. The silvery braid gleamed in the moonlight, and she felt the fears that had weighted her heart lift away again, as they always did when she held her treasure. A smile touched her lips, and she moved towards the desk, leaving the treasure box open and abandoned on the mantle.

Eowyn dipped a pen into the inkwell, her pen scratching over the thin parchment she kept in a box there. When she finished the letter, and it was dry, she sealed it with the ring that sat on the desk next to the wax, writing a single name across the outside. Rising, she turned back to the bed, curling up next to Faramir, the plait of silvery hair twined in the fingers of one hand.

Absently, she noted that Faramir felt chilled, and drew up the blankets around them before succumbing to the numbing lethargy at the edges of her mind. _I wish I had the courage to tell you how much I loved you. Maybe next time, if we meet again. Remember me, Haldir, when I find you again._

FIN


	5. Telling Only Lies

**Telling Only Lies**

When my fist clenches, crack it open  
Before I use it and lose my cool  
When I smile, tell me some bad news  
Before I laugh and act like a fool  
- The Who, _Behind Blue Eyes_

Aragorn leaned against the tree, his eyes looking out over the garden without seeing the beauty of it. One hand was clenched at his side, the other gripped a handful of crushed greenery, and his eyes were as cold as the biting winds that often whipped through the citadel at Minas Tirith. Behind him, he could hear the quiet strains of music floating from the main hall, mingled with the hum of coversation, and it only served to fuel his temper.

_As if it isn't enough that his kin have left, they would make sure he is unwelcome where his friends are._ The scowl on his face deepened, and he felt the dull pain of his fingernails pressing half-moon welts into his palms.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder, and he looked over, his anger abating some when he saw the worried faces of Legolas and Arwen, the two elves giving him inquiring glances. He simply shrugged, nodding back towards the hall, with its lights and music, guests and entertainment. "Something that was said," he murmured, letting Legolas pry open his fist.

"Just something that was said?" The blond elf raised an eyebrow, his fingers running over the welts in Aragorn's palm.

Aragorn felt his anger running away as he rested his head against Legolas's shoulder, basking in the aura of calm and comfort the elf exuded. "Nothing important, Legolas."

The blond elf murmured something indistinct, meeting Arwen's eyes over Aragorn's bowed head. She vanished from the doorway, leaving the two alone in the garden.

Aragorn rested against the pillows of his bed, ignoring the faint twittering of the physicians who had tried to prevent this steady deterioration of his body. He shook his head, knowing that there was nothing they could do, and wished they would leave him alone with those close to him so he could die in peace.

The door to his chambers opened, Legolas slipping in, Arwen following, but remaining at the door. She gave the physicians a look, and they finally went silent, slipping out of the room without the elven woman having to say a word. She smied at him sadly as she closed the door behind her, coming to sit on one side of the bed. Legolas sat on the other, and the blond elf reached out to stroke back a stray strand of grey hair from Aragorn's face.

"At least now I don't have to listen to that incessent chattering," he said softly, closing his eyes for a moment. "They sounded like a flock of magpies." He opened his eyes again at the silence around him, almost a physical weight.

Lifting a hand, he pointed across the room to where Anduril rested with his armor. Where it had been gathering dust for the last year, with him too weak to lift it, and his son unwilling to go near it. "Legolas, take Anduril."

"Aragorn?" Legolas looked startled, his blue eyes staring into Aragorn's.

Arwen stood, bringing the sword over before Aragorn said anything, laying it on the coverlet where he could reach it. Aragorn pressed Legolas's hand to the hilt, feeling the darkness of death encroaching on his mind. He pulled together his remaining strength, and with his dying breath, Aragorn whispered to Legolas, "Keep Anduril at your side. For you will meet one born of the line of kings who will wield it and save the future."

FIN


	6. Dreams and Waking Screams

But now the dreams and waking screams  
That ever last the night  
So build the wall, behind it crawl  
And hide until it's light  
- Metallica, _Hero of the Day_

Elrond leaned against the door to his room, his eyes shut. The light from the setting sun stained the room with a bloody light that made him squeeze his eyes shut. He hadn't felt fear like this since he left Middle Earth, and he struggled to banish the emotion back to the shadowy corners of his mind, to keep company with memories of both wars of the ring, among other horrors he didn't want.

When he opened his eyes, the room was painted in shades of deep blue and shadowy grey, the sun now below the horizon where it wouldn't trigger memories of battle with its blood-red light. _The twins should have had this room. They wouldn't care if the sun-set turned everything red._

He shoved away from the wall, going to the locked cabinet where he'd gathered some of the more interesting brews men had come up with in the millenia since Middle Earth had faded from their memories. A bottle of rum, and a small tumbler were extracted from the cabinet, and he settled down on the balcony, looking out into the forest that came almost up to the house itself.

_At least that was less painful than it could have been. Though I could wish that Delanie was less curious, and hadn't gone snooping into the library. Or picked another one of the various books to read._

He took a sip of his drink, a frown on his face, thinking of why he'd agreed to come back, to a world that had changed beyond recognition. _What have they done to this world? They have done Sauron's work for him with their cars and their smoke-belching cities. And loose in it, they hide monsters, without knowing, or caring that they are there._

Another sip. _And I have sent Arwen into this dangerous place, to grow as one of them, all for the sake of keeping the world safe from the evils of the rings. But will it do any good?_

The faint screams of soldiers falling beneath the blades of orcs came to his ears, and his jaw clenched, his fingers curling tighter around the glass. Tonight would be a night of dreams and memories better left forgotten. And nothing would stop them. _Except being drunker than a dwarf._

The tumbler shattered against the brick of the patio below the balcony of his room, and Elrond retreated to the darker shadows of his room with the bottle, curling in the corner of the bed. _To forget. The only luxery I envy those who will stop this all. To forget it all when they die, and find a new life, free of the memories, and the obligations of the past._

FIN


	7. Born to be King

I am immortal  
I have inside me blood of kings  
I have no rival  
No man can be my equal  
-Queen, _Princes of the Universe_

April settled the crown from Burger King on her head, as the rest of the group watched, clad in a motley group of clothes pulled out of their parent's attics, and pots and pans from the kitchen of the huge house on the hill above them. A snicker came from her cousin, and she scowled, picking up the stick that was her sword, and smacking him over the head.

"OW! That hurt" Andrew scowled at her, pulling his pot-helm off to rub the top of his head.

"No laughing at me" April had her hands on her hips. "I bet no one laughed at Aragorn."

"I bet they did." Marcus yelped as that earned him a punch from his cousin, who had eschewed a stick in favor of her own two hands, and a slingshot.

"Shut up, Marcus" Kystrel rolled her eyes, moving away from Marcus to stand beside April as Jessica took up a position on the other side of the oldest girl. "No one laughed at him in the books."

"How would you know" Andrew crossed his arms, Marcus beside him, and Marcus's little brother Brian behind the two older boys. "You've never read the books."

"_I_ have" April said, glaring at her cousin. "Nobody laughed at Aragorn. Not that I needed to read the books to know that."

Andrew snorted. "Why? Because you have _dreams_ where you see him" A smirk was on his face, echoed by Marcus and Brian, and the girls growled almost as one, Kystrel loading the slingshot, as Jessica pulled out her stick-sword. April held out her arms to stop them from launching at the boys and beating the crap out of them.

"You shut up, Andrew. He was real, and he was a king, and I'm gonna be a ruler just like he was." April raised an eyebrow, daring him to challenge her.

"Hah." Andrew shook his head. "You can't be, April. You gotta be part of a royal family, and there has to be a country where you can be a queen without being merely a figurehead. It'll never happen."

A moment later, Andrew was running, yelling for his mother, with April chasing him, and Kystrel pelting him with mudballs from her slingshot. The other two boys scattered, and shrieks filled the yard, making the adults returning from lunch sigh, and wish they'd stayed out just a little longer.

FIN


	8. So Close to Giving Up

Someone deliver us,  
And send us some kind of sign  
So close to giving up  
'Cause faith is so hard to find  
- Nickleback, _Believe It or Not_

Rhianne pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the hotel room window, her head pounding as if all the dwarves of Arda were mining for mithril there. Outside, rain dripped steadily from the sullen sky, while thunder grumbled in the distance.

Her fist came up to slam against the glass, a cry choked back before it could emerge. _I was never born for this._ She peered out of the glass with a bleak expression at the dreary, rain-soaked city below her. So different from the cool forest she'd grown up in, or the bright lights of Las Vegas, where she'd left her sister to the magic of neon and stage shows.

"Uncle Elrond was right. These humans have done the work of the darkness themselves. Even Sauron would be hard pressed to match the horrors they've inflicted on Arda, and still kept themselves alive," she whispered.

Turning from the window, she wrapped her cloak around her, and headed out to take a walk.

Rhianne ignored the fading light, and the people hurrying to get out of the rain and wet, turning her head up to look at the clouds. _Arda tries to nurture the forest that should be here. Forest and plains, mountains and sea. But there is nothing there. Nothing but man, crawling over her face like the orcs that followed Sauron. Consuming or destroying everything in their path._

_Not all of mankind is so useless, Rhianne._

Rhianne shut her eyes, her head dropping. _Aunt Galadriel._ She had hoped it would take longer for them to find her. Give her a chance to figure out who she was. Not what they wanted her to be, what they said she needed to be.

_Do I really sound like grandmother?_

Rhianne's eyes snapped open to meet the amused eyes of a young man, sitting at one of the tables of an outdoor café. She raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged, one hand indicating the empty seat across the table from him.

"Would you care to join me on this rainy night?"

Sitting across from him, Rhianne smiled. "How do you know who I am?"

The young man shrugged, and reached up to tuck his hair behind pointed ears. "Father and Grandmother told me. They're worried about you."

Rhianne looked down at her lap. "So they sent you looking for me?" She looked up again, her eyes hard.

He shook his head. "No." An impudent grin broke out on his face. "I only saw them as Elrohir and I were passing through on our way to Las Vegas. We'd heard that Gandalf had a daughter in town, and Elrohir wanted to see the act."

"So, you're Elledan?" Rhianne asked.

Elledan stood, and bowed. "At your service, my lady." He sat back down, brushing his hair back once more.

"So what brought you on to Seattle?"

Elledan shrugged. "Nothing in particular." He looked up as the rain began to pick up. "The weather, perhaps."

Rhianne chuckled. "Really? I thought people went to California for the weather. All that sun, and clear skies."

"I prefer the rain." Elledan shrugged. "It's soothing. Reminds me that not everything has been destroyed in Arda."

Rhianne's amusement faded. "But for how long?" she asked quietly. "More of Arda vanishes everyday into the greedy maw of humanity. Even without Sauron or Morgoth, or some other dark lord, they fall prey to the darkness."

Elledan reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. "Not all of them, Rhianne. There are some out there that re better than the rest. And it's for them that the Guardians fight to keep the artifacts of the Ages past out of the hands of the darkness."

Turning her face to look out along the mostly deserted street, Rhianne felt the tears springing to her eyes. Tears she refused to let fall. "But the darkness is gaining strength, Elrohir. Father, and Uncle Elrond, and Aunt Galadriel returned because of it. They brought back the heros of the last war against it because of its strength."

Elledan stood, coming around the table, and pulling her to her feet. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, lending her his strength and warmth for a while. "It doesn't mean they've lost hope, Rhianne," he whispered into her hair. "It doesn't mean they think that we cannot protect the artifacts. Only that it is time for them to see life again through different eyes."

Rhianne pulled away a moment, her grey eyes holding his gaze. "You think they returned merely as messengers, Elledan?"

"Someone had to. Or who would know where the heros are scattered about?" He smiled, a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. "And who would have brought such a lovely lady as you to my attention?"

Rhianne blushed, looking down. "You are impossible." She pulled out of his embrace, her hand reaching down to clasp his. "Do you have someplace to stay, or have you been watching me for days?"

Elledan shrugged, walking with her down the street. "I have a hotel room, but I only checked in this morning. I haven't had the chance to follow you for days." He pulled his hand free of hers, and wrapped his arm around her waist instead. "Shall I escort you back to your hotel before I take my leave, m'lady?"

_Maybe things aren't so bad as all that,_ Rhianne thought, smiling. "You may, oh gallant one."

Elledan laughed, and squeezed her close before letting her loose again, the two falling silent as they walked through the rain.

FIN


	9. Tranquility Base

**Tranquility Base**

Time stands still as I gaze in her waters  
She eases me down, touching me gently  
With the waters that flow past my boat on the river  
So I don't cry out anymore  
- Styx, _Boat on the River_

Elrond wrapped his arms around Celebrían, feeling the tension that hummed through her. "I will not stay away for an Age, melda-nin," he said softly, his lips against her ear.

Celebrían shivered slightly, and wrapped her arms around his. "I know." Her voice was quiet, with an undertone of fear that made him hold her closer.

"Yet you are afraid."

"Yes." She turned to face him, her brows pulled together in concern. "I worry for you, melin. For you, for our sons, for our daughter. For all of what remains of Arda beneath the cities of men, and all that they have done between them."

Elrond said nothing then, simply pulling her close.

Celebrían tilted her head, one hand reaching up to curl around the back of Elrond's neck, tugging gently until he lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was hungry, fueled by her fear and love. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against, as if she might be able to merge with him through the clothing they wore.

She felt Elrond shift his weight, and broke off the kiss before he swept her into his arms, carrying her into their bedroom. Celebrían could see the desire in his eyes, shadowed by worry, and she pulled back slightly as he set her on her feet, smiling.

Their clothing was quick to be shed, falling to the floor with rustles and soft thumps as they slowly made their way towards the bed that occupied the center of the room. Elrond twined his arms around Celebrían's waist once more, and pulled her close. His lips captured hers in another hungry kiss before he set her on the bed, and followed her.

Elrond held Celebrían close as the time approached for him to leave once more. To go with the others who had borne the elven rings in the final war against Sauron back to Arda. Return to a world where they would find the heros who were being sent back to protect the world from the evils that had never quite died.

_I have been here an Age and more, yet still it is not enough time._ He stroked one hand along Celebrían's golden hair, his eyes studying the lines of her face in profile. _Would that I could remain here with you, melda-nin. That I did not have to go on this journey back to a world that is so changed._

Celebrían stirred, rolling onto her back, her eyes opening to look up at him. She reached up one hand to tuck a lock of his hair behind his ear with a sad smile. "You look troubled, melin-nin. Is it so soon that you must leave?"

He bowed his head, resting his forehead against hers. "Not yet, melda."

She wiggled a bit, and Elrond pulled back as she sat up. "Then do not let your mind wander to what will be, or regrets you may have. Not yet." Celebrían wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. "We will both worry later, when you are returning to Arda, and I am here."

Elrond buried his face in her shoulder, letting her presence calm him, and allow him to forget what would come for a few hours. _This I will treasure while I am gone from here, and miss until I can return. And I will return, melda-nin. I promise you I will return, and then even if the world that men have made of Arda is overwhelmed with darkness, I will remain here. Forever._

FIN


End file.
